{"title":"THE ROLE OF TRADITIONAL LEADERSHIP IN SUPPORTING ORPHANS AND VULNERABLE CHILDREN IN ZIMBABWE: AFRICAN TRADITIONAL LEADERSHIP PERSPECTIVE","authors":"John Ringson","doi":"10.15270/56-2-821","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"The experiences of orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) in Zimbabwe find expression in the maxim that says ‘Where two elephants fight, the grass suffers the most’. Orphans and vulnerable children in Zimbabwe have been the casualties of disharmony between traditional and contemporary leadership philosophies for more than three decades. Using a phenomenological approach, the study involved 20 key informants, who included community leaders and OVC caregivers. Underpinned by the traditional leadership perspectives, the study examined the role of traditional leaders in supporting OVC for the purposes of integrating its relevant compatible elements with modern OVC care and support systems. The study showed that there is lack of synchronicity between traditional and contemporary OVC care and support systems, which ultimately compromises the effectiveness of the social care professions in rural communities in Zimbabwe. The study recommends the establishment of an integrated contextually-based OVC care and support model to enhance the relationship between traditional and contemporary leadership in Zimbabwe.","PeriodicalId":44671,"journal":{"name":"Social Work-Maatskaplike Werk","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.4000,"publicationDate":"2020-06-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"3","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Social Work-Maatskaplike Werk","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.15270/56-2-821","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q4","JCRName":"SOCIAL WORK","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 3
Abstract
The experiences of orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) in Zimbabwe find expression in the maxim that says ‘Where two elephants fight, the grass suffers the most’. Orphans and vulnerable children in Zimbabwe have been the casualties of disharmony between traditional and contemporary leadership philosophies for more than three decades. Using a phenomenological approach, the study involved 20 key informants, who included community leaders and OVC caregivers. Underpinned by the traditional leadership perspectives, the study examined the role of traditional leaders in supporting OVC for the purposes of integrating its relevant compatible elements with modern OVC care and support systems. The study showed that there is lack of synchronicity between traditional and contemporary OVC care and support systems, which ultimately compromises the effectiveness of the social care professions in rural communities in Zimbabwe. The study recommends the establishment of an integrated contextually-based OVC care and support model to enhance the relationship between traditional and contemporary leadership in Zimbabwe.
期刊介绍:
This South African academic peer-reviewed journal publishes articles, book reviews and commentary from all field of social work. Manuscripts covering amongst others the following, are considered for publication: social work, welfare organizations, society, social welfare, family and child care, community work, substance abuse, substance dependence, welfare law, etc.